Probably due to Patrick Gleeson also releasing a synthesizer version of The Planets in the same year on the Mercury label, the US title for the album was changed to The Tomita Planets.

The sound of the album is quite cosmic and the first strains, reminiscent of a space ship or rocket, draw you in for the ride. As with Holst's original, each part moves quite appropriately into the next, weaving an electronic tapestry of the solar system. Also as with the original, there is no piece for Pluto, as in Holst's time it had yet to be discovered.

The Planets is also a 1999 documentary series by the BBC, taking nine episodes to outline the nature and exploration of the solar system. It is without a doubt the most fascinating, well made and beautifully written documentary I have ever seen, this coming from a kid brought up thinking that TV = David Attenborough. The level of information presented was extremely impressive. Interviews with astronomers, astronauts and engineers are long and detailed, often providing narration for a significant portion of an episode - a far cry from the "here's our sound bite of some dude in a lab saying something cool" approach taken to scientists in too many documentaries. At least half of the series is dedicated to the history of exploration and the space race, including all the early Soviet robotic missions to the planets. The invention and engineering of the missions is mixed in with the discoveries the missions actually made.

The episodes are:

Different Worlds - the history of modern planetary explorations, and the formation of the planets

Terra Firma - the exploration of geological activity elsewhere in the solar system

Atmosphere - follows robotic missions and the exploration of the skies of other planets

Life - discusses the prospects for life elsewhere in the solar system, the search for water and any fossil remains on Mars

Destiny - the future evolution of the solar system and our chances for survival in a billion years' time

The writers have stayed very clear from hyperbole, cliche and sentimentality that so often afflicts modern documentary writing. The awe inspiring nature of the subject matter provides a bit of an emotional kick with the driest and most purely informative of scientific narrations. And it is extremely informative. Unless you have advanced qualifications in all the areas the series looks at, you're going to learn quite a bit of very cool astronomical and historical trivia. As far as I'm concerned, it's pretty much impossible to be apathetic about an actual photo or sound recording from the surface of another planet.

The series also does have a very impressive soundtrack, featuring the almost obligatory Holst, and snippets of dozens of pieces of great but not exactly household classical, much of which I still haven't been able to track down and identify. There is a lot of Vivaldi, some Mahler, some Dvorak, a very long section of Shostakovich symhony number 11, I seem to remember some Bruckner, who knows what else?

The Planets showed in Australia several years ago, and for the first time ever my family was watching TV every week. It's an extremely impressive series I fully recommend to anyone with the slightest interest in the science and engineering of space exploration and the geography of the rest of our solar system. They go into a lot of the geography, in a lot of detail, something incredibly cool when you consider the geography in question is on Venus or one of the moons of Saturn. Seriously, how cool is that? You can get it on video or DVD, in Australia through the ABC.

Bravo, freshmint, for giving the the world the straight dope on
The Planets. I have come across a lot of bad information about the
authorship of pieces of music inspired by The Planets, specifically
that Holst wrote Pluto: The Redeemer, or
Pluto: Lord of The Underworld, or Earth: Bringer of
Life, etc. In an effort to clear up this confusion, I would like
to add a list of compositions inspired by, and some times performed
with The Planets, along with their authors.

Ryan Shore has composed three pieces for the Mars DVD, one each for the Earth, the Sun, and Pluto.

Joey Roukens has written a piece called Earth: Bringer of Life. All the information about this person and his music is apparently in Dutch, so that is all I know.

Colin Matthews composed Pluto: The Redeemer

The film The Planets: Epoch 2000, directed by Don Barret has an additional piece for Pluto.

Mark Grace has also apparently written three pieces inspired by Holst:

Sol: Bringer of Light

Earth: Cradle of Creation

Pluto: Ice Wanderer (Tombaugh's Tune)

I have also heard a piece called Pluto: Lord of the
Underworld. I have been unable to locate the true author of this
piece, although the mp3 I have of it incorrectly attributes this
piece to Holst. There is another mp3 floating around
out there incorrectly attributed to Holst, entitled
Earth: The Home of Man. At least as far as titles go, Colin
Mathews is most true to Holst's original ideas, in that
the piece is named by reference to Pluto's astrological
significance, rather than by its place in the Romanpantheon.

If any one has any more information about these or other pieces
inspired by The Planets, especially those incorrectly attributed to
Holst, please let me know.